It being Earth Day, I suppose I should write something about this planet we call home. I mostly think of it as Gaia, I'm not certain why.
This planet's complex reaction to out star, aka the sun, is probably its most important aspect. Quite minor variations in the sun's radiation appear to have somewhat profound impacts here.
Global warming and cooling have cycled throughout the history we find recorded in the rocks and tree rings, all quite independent of any human agency. Ceteris paribus, they will continue to do so.
Everything humans manage to do on the relatively small fraction of the surface where we collect in any appreciable quantity pales into insignificance compared to the planet-wide impact of solar radiation. We are as a small colony of fleas on an elephant's back imagining we influence the beast's behavior as we live out our brief lives.
At our worst, we manage to make small areas intermittently less habitable. Assuming greater impact is runaway hubris.
